EARTH DAY: APRIL 22, 2011

Methyl iodide—a known human carcinogen—is too dangerous to be used in our fields and farms.

Big chemical companies are trying to muscle their way into the process. !

Strawberries are sweet and delicious, it's hard not to love them. But if we don't act quickly, these juicy berries could end up being responsible for getting lots of people sick.

Earlier this year, officials in California approved a cancer-causing pesticide that's chiefly used in strawberry fields. They did this over the objections of scientists who warned that use of the chemical would make farmworkers and people in nearby communities sick. The chemical—methyl iodide—is so toxic that scientists in labs use it in very tiny amounts to create cancer cells.

It's already being used in Florida. And if California growers start applying it to strawberry fields later this year, millions of pounds of this toxic gas could end up being released straight into our air and water.

But we have a chance to make this right. Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are signaling they want to take a closer look at whether or not to ban this pesticide.

They've given the public until April 25 to weigh in with their comments. We need to let them know that methyl iodide is way too dangerous to be used in our fields and farms.

Already, big chemical companies are trying to muscle their way into the process. But there are more of us than them. Now is the time to stand up and be counted:
Keep strawberries sweet by keeping farming communities healthy.

— Earthjustice
Because the earth needs a good lawyer

Now is the time to stand up and be counted

Screaming, laughing, joyful baby peguin here.